The Government of Karnataka is a democratically elected body with the governor as the constitutional head. The governor who is appointed for five years appoints the chief minister and his council of ministers. Even though the governor remains the ceremonial head of the state, the day-to-day running of the government is taken care of by the chief minister and his council of ministers in whom a great deal of legislative powers is vested.

Contents

Administrative divisions1

Political and administrative reorganisation1.1

Legislature2

Ministry3

Chief Minister4

List Of Ministers5

Bureaucrats6

Karnataka Panchayat Raj7

Executive8

Police Administration9

Politics10

Elections10.1

See Also10.2

Footnotes11

References12

Administrative divisions

A map showing the 30 districts of Karnataka

Karnataka State has been divided into four revenue divisions, 49 sub-divisions, 30 districts, 176 taluks and 747 hoblies/revenue circles and 5628 gram panchayats for administrative purposes.[1] The state has 281 towns and 7 municipal corporations. Bangalore is the fifth largest urban agglomeration out of 23 metropolis, urban agglomerations and cities in India. It is among the fastest growing cities in the world.

In 1989, Bangalore rural district was split from Bangalore and, in 1997, Bagalkot district split from Bijapur, Chamrajnagar district split from Mysore, Gadag district split from Dharwad, Haveri district split from Dharwad, Koppal district split from Raichur, Udupi district split from Dakshina Kannada, and Davanagere district was created from parts of Bellary, Chitradurga, Dharwad, and Shimoga.

In 2008, Bangalore Rural district was split into two and a new district of Ramanagara was constituted. In the same way the district of Chickballapur was carved out of the erstwhile Kolar district.

Legislature

The state legislature is bicameral and consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Legislative Assembly consists of 224 members with one member nominated by the governor to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The term of office of the members is five years and the term of a member elected to the council is six years.[2] The Legislative Council is a permanent body with one-third of its members retiring every two years.[3]

Ministry

The government is headed by the governor who appoints the chief minister and his council of ministers. The governor is appointed for five years and acts as the constitutional head of the state. Even though the governor remains the ceremonial head of the state, the day-to-day running of the government is taken care of by the chief minister and his council of ministers in whom a great deal of legislative powers is vested.

The secretariat headed by the secretary to the governor assists the council of ministers. The council of ministers consists of cabinet ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers. The chief minister is assisted by the chief secretary, who is the head of the administrative services.

Bureaucrats

Karnataka Panchayat Raj

Panchayat Raj (Rule of Village Committee) is a three-tier system in the state with elected bodies at the village, taluk and district levels. It ensures greater participation of people and more effective implementation of rural development programmes. There will be a Grama Panchayat for a village or group of villages, a taluk level and the Zilla Panchayat at the district level.

All the three institutions will have elected representatives and there is no provision for nomination by the government to any of these councils. Karnataka is the first in the country to enact new Panchayat Raj Act incorporating all provisions of 73rd Amendment to the Constitution.

Executive

A district of an Indian state is an administrat, headed by a deputy commissioner or district magistrate, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The district magistrate or the deputy commissioner is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Karnataka Civil Service and other Karnataka state services.

A Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues of the district. The commissioner is assisted by the officers of the Karnataka Police Service and other Karnataka Police officials. A Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, is responsible for managing the forests, environment and wildlife related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Karnataka Forest Service and other Karnataka forest and wildlife officials. Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development department such as PWD, Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal husbandry, etc. These officers belong to the State Services.

Police Administration

The state is divided into 20 police districts, 77 sub-divisions, 178 circles, State Police consists of 20 police districts, 4 Police Commissioners at Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli-Dharwad cities, 77 sub-divisions, 178 circles, 696 police stations, and 317 police outposts. There are six ranges: Central Range at Bangalore, Eastern Range at Davanagere, Northern Range at Gulbarga, Southern Range at Mysore and Western Range at Mangalore. The government Railway Police is headed by a D.I.G. of Police.[4]

Units that assist the state in law and order include Criminal Investigation Department (Forest Cell, Anti-Dowry Cell, etc.), Dog Squad, Civil Rights Enforcement Wing, Police Wireless and Police Motor Transport Organization and special units. Village Defence Parties protect persons and property in the village and assist the police when necessary. The police force is at times supplemented by Home Guards.

Politics

The previous government was a coalition government of JDS and BJP. The chief minister for an initial term of 20 months was H. D. Kumaraswamy of JDS and the post was supposed to subsequently be transferred to BJP's B. S. Yeddyurappa. A political fall out due to the failure in transfer of power to Yeddyurappa broke the coalition. The state was then under President's rule until the elections in May 2008. As a result of the BJP victory in those elections B. S. Yeddyurappa became chief minister of Karnataka. He resigned on 31 July 2011 following his indictment by the Karnataka Lok Ayukta in illegal iron ore export scam. D V Sadananda Gowda was sworn as the 26th chief minister of the state on 4 August 2011. Sadananda gowda resigned in 2012& jagadeesh shetar replaced him as new chief minister of karnataka administered until general assembly elections May 2013.The assembly elections held to choose new assembly in May 2013&INC got clear majority with bagging 121 seats in 224 assembly of karnataka.Siddaramaiah sworn as new chief minister of karnataka.

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